As the UN opens its grand anniversary jamboree that was intended to discuss the supposed reforms of that body, most of them already on the dust heap of history, we can all look forward to squabbles over two things in particular: definition of terrorism and money to be spent on more aid to various developing countries. I predict very little discussion of the central problem, which is lack of any kind of accountability in the UN itself.

Most rational people (and that does not include the tranzi great and the good or much of the western MSM) would describe a man who blows up over a hundred of his countrymen, as reported a little while ago from Baghdad, a terrorist.

The fact that he blew himself up as well is irrelevant. Such a man may be a suicide bomber but he is largely a homicide one. He is not a martyr or an insurrectionist. Those religious and political terms do not apply. He is a terrorist. It is, however, unlikely that the UN will come to such a simple conclusion, there being far too many members who do not want that to happen.

It may be a good time to cast a glance at the area and group that has been the recipient of the largest amount of hand-outs from the UN, from the EU and from individual western states: the Palestinian Authority.

The chaos in Gaza that followed the Israeli withdrawal has exceeded the worst expectations. It is all very well to write jolly little accounts of children rushing into the sea because they have been excluded from “their” beaches all these years, as numerous soft-hearted and soft-headed journalists have done, but much more went on.

The remaining building were trashed, what could be looted was; the synagogues were desecrated and burnt (imagine the outcry if the same had happened to mosques – though come to think of it, mosques have been attacked and burnt by some of those famous "insurrectionists”).

The worst, perhaps, from the point of view of the future development of Gaza, was the destruction of the highly expensive greenhouses, left behind in fully functioning order by the Israelis, as agreed. These were to form the centrepiece of the future Gaza economy. No centrepiece, no economy.

What we shall get instead is endless demands for more aid and a great deal of wailing and cursing of Israel, where those greenhouses go on functioning and fruit goes on growing.

As the mob swarmed over the Egyptian border, the guards opened fire. So far there have been few casualties but it seems more than likely that the Egyptian authorities will take tough measures to prevent any repetition of the swarming.

In the midst of it all the Palestinian Authority and its police force, trained and financed by the EU, has stood by, wringing its collective hands. From Mahmoud Abbas down they have wailed that this is not what they had in mind. Well, maybe not, but surely, some preparation could have been made. After all, the Israeli withdrawal had been announced months ago and has been proceeding according to plan in the last few weeks. What did the PA and its paymasters, the UN, the EU and many others think would happen?

One wonders whether all those hacks who had expended rivers of ink to decry the lack of federal preparation for Katrina in New Orleans will even look at the complete break-down of all order in the Gaza. No need to ask.

In the meantime, there have been the usual problems about funding and UN behaviour.

Israel has accused the UN of collaborating with Hizbollah in southern Lebanon.

“In diplomatic meetings with the U.S. and France in the past weeks, a series of complaints about UNIFIL were brought up: The UN force maintains a permanent dialogue with Hezbollah, chiefly because of UNIFIL's own interest in survival;in many places along the Israel-Lebanon border, Hezbollah has posts and positions adjacent to UNIFIL positions; deployment of the force serves as an excuse for the Lebanese government not to deploy in the south, as required by UN Security Council resolutions; and UNIFIL treats the IDF as equivalent to the Hezbollah terrorist organization when reporting violations of the cease-fire.”

Israel maintains that the situation in Lebanon has changed recently and adjustments need to be made accordingly.

“France rejected the Israeli position. French government officials told the Israeli ambassador in Paris, Nissim Zvili, that UNIFIL's mandate allows it to maintain ties with "all sides," including Hezbollah, and that the force fulfills a "stabilizing role" and that reducing it would not help achieve stability in the region. The U.S. administration prefers to coordinate its position on Lebanon with France and not to upset the sensitive Lebanese political structure.”

That argument would hold if there were anything remotely resembling stability in the region, never mind anything remotely resembling a legitimate and accountable government. Instead we get a country in which another country (Syria) murders politicians and journalists at will and the UN troops parlay with terrorists.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Media Watch reports that the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, which receives funding from the EU, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, the Ford Foundation, Oxfam, Christian Aid, Open Society Fund and various others, has been posting interesting items on its website.

It appears that this “human rights organization” has no problems whatsoever with “military” activity aimed at Israeli civilians, even children, as long as they are not carried out from Palestinian civilian areas that might result in Palestinian deaths.

Describing terrorists as “resistance fighters”, a term that will crop up as the discussions at the UN carry on, the PCHR openly commends their rocket attacks on civilian targets, as long as they are Israeli.

“In addition, PCHR's definition of Hamas and Islamic Jihad - groups that specialize in suicide terror against civilians and who are on the terror lists of America and European countries - as "resistance groups" raises yet more questions regarding PCHR's status as a legitimate "human right" organization.”

PCHR, incidentally, holds a “Special Consultative Satatus” with the UN’s Economic and Social Council.

It is, however, good to know that aid money from the European Union and others goes to worthy causes.

Not that one can exclude Americans from the rather haphazard way in which money is given to organizations in the Middle East.

A recent article in FrontPage magazine details the amounts the US government has spent on the support of Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli prisons.

“On September 3, Abu Zayda told the Palestinian newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida that his office deposits salaries of $400 to $500 a month for each prisoner, in addition to a $50 monthly payment each for expenses in the prison canteen. The Palestinian Prison Affairs office also funds the prisoners’ legal expenses, medical treatment, etc. An additional $100,000 is dedicated to tuition for every terrorist prisoner who seeks higher education--without any consideration to his organizational affiliation or crimes. The prisoners include those who murdered Israelis, suicide bomber dispatchers, and suicide bombers caught en route.”

Mahmoud Abbas’s thinking is presumably along the lines that paying off the terrorists in various ways might buy him the support of Hamas and the more extreme wing of Fatah. What the thinking behind the USAID largesse might be, is anybody’s guess.

None of us have ever been able to work out precisely why various organizations, starting from the UN, going on through the EU and national aid givers as well as NGOs think it a good idea to support terrorists in the hopes that pouring money in might improve the situation. It has never done so until now. The recent scenes in Gaza are just another set of scenes in this murderous sequence. I imagine, the money will pour in as compensation for the destruction wrought by the people themselves, the terrorists will benefit, while more and more legislation will be imposed on people in the EU's member states, allegedly all to conduct the fight against terrorism.